Rocky V
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 Go for it! Because this film is anything but Rocky.
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Rocky V is a 1990 American sports drama film. It is the fifth film in the Rocky series, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It was met with negative reception, and was considered a disappointing conclusion to the Rocky series (at the time). The series would not get another installment until 2006's Rocky Balboa.
Plot
Recently retired boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) falls on hard times after his accountant mismanages his finances. He stages a comeback of sorts by mentoring fiery young boxer Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), while also trying to mend his shaky relationship with his own son, Robert (Sage Stallone). These challenges prove to be at least as tough as any fight Rocky has faced in the ring. He wonders if he will be able to meet them and raise his arms in victory again
Qualities That Are Not The Ultimate Underdog
- It doesn't feel like a Rocky film at all, and the story is very weak, which it requires leaps in logic to happen:
- The whole plot is kicked off by Rocky leaving Paulie in charge of their finances, which no one in their right mind would do.
- Rocky is diagnosed with brain damage, and yet somehow, he manages to beat Tommy Gunn (the antagonist) in a fight with little repercussions. His brain damage was later retconned as a misdiagnosis in Rocky Balboa.
- The climax of this film isn't a boxing match, but a street brawl, which is really stupid considering this is a boxing movie.
- Unnecessary sequel that was only made to get a quick buck. In fact, when The Sun interviewed Stallone about Rocky V, he admitted that he made this movie out of greed.
- Despite trying to be more gritty like the first Rocky film, it is even campier than Rocky III and Rocky IV at times. The final fight in particular has Rocky using moves that wouldn't be out of place in the first Street Fighter game.
- Misleading tagline: Rocky DOES NOT go for it!
- Apart from Sylvester Stallone, there are laughable performances from the actors.
- In particular, Richard Gant's performance as George Washington Duke, an obvious parody of fight promoter Don King, is far too ridiculous to take seriously.
- Rocky tells Adrian he'd "violate her like a parking meter" in one scene in the movie, which is probably the worst line in the entire series.
- The film overall feels more like a soap opera than an exciting sports film.
- Intended to be the series finale and bring Rocky back to his roots, but viewers felt this made his struggle and success in the other films meaningless, resulting in an unsatisfying conclusion, and nearly killed the Rocky franchise for good..
- Not very good pacing.
- John G. Avildsen's direction isn't great.
Qualities That Are The Ultimate Underdog
- There are some people who still likes this film.
- The relationship with Rocky and his son can be quite heartfelt, mainly because Rocky Jr. is played by Sage Stallone, Sylvester Stallone's real-life son.
- In spite of its silliness, the climatic street fight is often considered the best part of the film.
- Mickey returns in flashback scenes with Burgess Meredith reprising his role, in what would be his final appearance in the franchise.
- The tone is an improvement over the campy and over-the-top fourth film.
- The opening to this film is epic.
- Sylvester Stallone still gives a very good performance as Rocky Balboa.
- There are some funny moments such as Rocky Jr shouting this gem during the street fight: Knock the bum out, he took my room.
Reception
The film has a 33% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 reviews and Audience has a 31%, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The audience, however, are mixed review. Some of them are considered worse than Rocky IV. It's considered one of the weakest Rocky series.
The website's consensus is that "Rocky V's attempts to recapture the original's working-class grit are as transparently phony as each of the thuddingly obvious plot developments in a misguided installment that sent the franchise flailing into longterm limbo."
Trivia
- If it weren’t for the failure of this film, Rocky Balboa wouldn't have been made.
- YouTuber Lukimus Prime hates this movie and rates it 3/10. He even mentioned in his Rocky franchise ranking video that he fell asleep watching Rocky V for the first time due to finding it boring.
Videos
External links
Rocky V at the Internet Movie Database
Comments
- Mediocre media
- Bad films
- Sequel films
- 1990s films
- Sylvester Stallone films
- Box office bombs
- Sports films
- Average films
- Movies that killed the franchise
- MGM films
- Razzie Awards Worst Picture nominees
- Films aware of how bad they are
- Live-action films
- Worst Screenplay nominees
- Cash grabs
- Boring films
- Comedy films
- Drama films